Walk West agency was acknowledged with a Viral Marketing Platinum award for #DontSayVelcro, a brand awareness and educational initiative around proper use of the VELCRO® Brand trademark. The digital marketing campaign accounted for 80 percent of all 2017 YouTube views, and included groundbreaking digital strategies such as live musical tweet responses, social media bots, and innovative engagement tactics. Moreover, the campaign achieved 13th most trending video on YouTube, 7.8 million views, and more than 1.1 billion media impressions.
Ann Marie Taepke, Director of Digital Media at Walk West said, “The reason this campaign worked was two-fold. First, we created a campaign that was very self-aware, leaning into the problem with humor and asymmetry rather than running from it. Second, we extended the story with a number of touch points beyond the music video,” continued Taepke. “As a result, our team along with Penn Holderness, created a larger viral discussion among consumers, lawyers and educators about trademark misuse.”
Digital marketers, educators, and the legal industry have taken note of the #DontSayVelcro campaign, as well. According to Tim Lince of World Trademark Review: “In terms of raising awareness, this has arguably been one of the most successful campaigns of its kind.”
In addition, Walk West earned a Gold Digital Storytelling award for #ZaydensJourney, a campaign for Make-a-Wish Georgia in partnership with UPTV. The digital story documented a 7-year old’s wish to travel to Saturn and meet aliens, and marked the first time virtual reality technology was used to grant a wish.
The AVA Digital Awards is an international competition that recognizes creative professionals for achievement in a variety of digital marketing categories that include: digital engagement campaigns; audio and video production; website development; social media interaction; and mobile marketing. The competition is sponsored and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP).
About Walk West
Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Walk West is a full-service, award-winning digital marketing and strategic communications agency that works with brands in a wide variety of industries including: healthcare, higher education, software as a service, entertainment, food and beverage, renewable energy, professional services, real estate, nonprofits, and associations. The privately-owned company was founded in 2007 as O3 by Brian Onorio and today specializes in strategic discovery, web design and development, issue advocacy, government and public affairs, video production, public relations, social media marketing, content marketing, SEO, SEM, and professional development services. For more information about Walk West, visit https://walkwest.com.
Media Contact:
Chris Austin
VP of Growth
Walk West
1730 Varsity Drive, #200
Raleigh, NC 27606
